1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications, and more specifically to a system and method for processing service requests.
2. Related Art
Voice or audio platforms (also known as voice or audio response units) are generally used to provide services using automated call processing. Commonly known examples of such services include processing collect calls, operator assisted calls and sales transactions. In a typical scenario, a caller places a call to the platform to request a specific service.
The platform determines the desired service based, for example, on the number dialed by the caller and information provided by the caller over a bearer channel. The platform directs the call to an application running on a transaction processing unit. The transaction processing unit executes an application to provide the service. An example of a transaction processing unit is a voice response unit.
For example, a caller can dial 1-800-COLLECT to make a collect call processed by the platform. At the platform, a voice response unit (transaction processing unit) is assigned to the incoming call. Determining the call to be a 1-800-COLLECT call, the voice response unit will play scripted messages for the caller and record information received from the caller. Such information can include the caller's name (i.e., as spoken by the caller) and the phone number the caller desires to call (e.g., by entering digits into the telephone keypad).
The voice response unit will then make an outgoing call from the platform to the called party. Once this outgoing call is established, the voice response unit will play scripted messages for the called party to effect call acceptance. The voice response unit will identify the caller for the called party by playing back the pre-recorded voice of the caller identifying himself. The voice response unit will also ask the called party to indicate (using the telephone keypad or otherwise) whether the call is accepted. Finally, if the called party accepts the call, then the call must somehow be connected between the caller and the called party.
Typically, the voice response units receive and transmit calls over dedicated connections. The voice response units are generally connected to a select number of large bandwidth pipes, such as T1s, in a known manner. As is well known, a T1 pipe contains twenty-four channels (DS0s). The dialogue between the caller and the voice response unit, or alternatively between the platform and the called party, takes place over one or more of these channels. The channels can carry voice or data information in a digital format.
Unfortunately, in conventional platforms, the T1s are dedicated to the voice response units, and cannot share bandwidth. That is, each voice response unit is assigned a fixed number of T1s for calls coming into the platform from the network, and also a fixed number of T1s for calls going out over the network from the platform. Typically, the platform is designed so that each voice response unit has an equal number of T1s for inbound calls and for outbound calls. In the above example, the inbound call from the 1-800-COLLECT caller is over a dedicated inbound T1, whereas the outbound call to the called party is over a dedicated outbound T1.
However, this practice is extremely wasteful of circuit resources. Most service requests to the platform do not require outbound T1s. The outbound T1s are dedicated and cannot be used for incoming calls. However, the platform service provider may have no other option than a dedicated connection, in order to provide adequate customer service.
Such dedicated allocation of bandwidth may also lead to inefficiency in the usage of other platform resources. For example, the platform may have the processing power, but not the required bandwidth, to process a transaction. As a result, all the components of the platform, specifically the voice response units, will not be optimally utilized.
Another problem relates to the provision of signaling. In modern systems, the signaling network is separated from the switched voice network. Signaling is used to handle call setup, takedown and information processing. This includes monitoring the status of the trunks, indicating the arrival of an incoming call, transmitting routing and destination signals, etc. Signaling is handled separately from the actual voice circuits to minimize the load on the voice circuits and establish a more efficient network architecture.